LEGAZPI CITY -- Municipal Mayor Celso De Los Angeles of Sto. Domingo, Albay -- about 12 kms south of this city -- may have money to spend for a lavish New Year’s eve fireworks display but none to spare for a project initiated by a religious group to help alleviate the plight of street children.

        Sister Angela Fernando, 48, a Sri Lankan nun and directress of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary (SCJM) based in this city, was still ruing when she told this reporter of her sad experience when during the holiday season she tried to seek the help of the town mayor to market the P80-worth “hard broom” being produced by parents of street children in this city as a livelihood project.

        Sr. Angela told Bicol Mail that she went to De Los Angeles’ office to promote and market the good quality hard broom products but unfortunately she was not given the chance to talk to the mayor about her proposal.

        “I was there for 45-minutes,” the nun, who co-chairs the Ayuda Albay Food and Nutrition Program, said.

        She added the mayor even saw and greeted her while they were still outside the office. “But when his secretary took my letter to him, the secretary told me what the mayor instructed her to tell me: No money for donations because there are a lot of projects to be completed,” Sr. Angela narrated.

        Sr. Angela tried to explain to the secretary that she was not asking for donation but trying to sell a product that could be used by the town’s street sweepers for cleaning the streets.

        She also explained that if the local government unit of Sto. Domingo would purchase the brooms, the proceeds would be a great help to alleviate the plight of poor families in the province.

        “I felt very sad because I was misconstrued and that’s the only office of the mayor in Albay where I waited for 45-minutes, unlike in other municipalities wherein the mayors were very accommodating and supportive of our programs,” she said.

        Out of 15 municipalities and three cities, Sr. Angela said the town of Sto. Domingo and the city of Legazpi were not supportive of their program.

        She said the towns of Camalig, Polangui, Tiwi, Daraga, Malinao, Malilipot and the cities of Tabaco and Ligao had made purchases of the broom that were made by the parents of street children in the city.

        She explained: “These products are being used in Tiwi all the way to Polangui except in Legazpi and Sto. Domingo. We’re helping the families of street children in Albay especially in Legazpi because we want to address the root cause of poverty by providing livelihood programs for the poor and jobless parents.”

        Sr. Angela said the materials for the specially-made brooms, especially the coconut midribs, were brought from nearby province of Sorsogon because after Reming battered Bicol, there was not enough supply in Albay, which was hardest hit by the typhoon.

        The parents of street children are very enthusiastic about broom-making because the profits derived therefrom help them a lot,” she said.

Jueteng lord?

        Municipal Mayor De los Angeles, a.k.a. “Boss Boy” is a first-time mayor who is a native of Marikina City but chose to settle in the town of Sto. Domingo, in the first district of Albay.

        Townsfolk could easily recall his name after he was tagged by whistleblower former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson as among the big-time jueteng operators during the congressional investigations on the jueteng scandal that ousted then Pres. Erap Estrada.

        As neophyte mayor, De los Angeles had vowed to transform the sleepy coastal town of Sto. Domingo into an emerging tourist destination in Albay.

        Supporters and ordinary townsfolk portray him as a very generous and kind public official who gives expensive gifts to his political supporters.

        But Sr. Angela’s experience was a different matter.

Brooms that help street children
        The parents of street kids who produce the brooms, through the assistance and guidance of SCJM nuns, earn at least P150 a day with P30 daily savings which can be loaned by the workers when the need arises.

Caption: Sister Angela Fernando, 48, directress of Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary (SCJM) from Sri Lanka shows off the hard broom products being made by poor parents in Legazpi as their livelihood project. Rhaydz B. Barcia

        The SCJM is supporting at least 51 children coming from 38 families where 41 of their children are sent back in school, 15 of whom are in high school.

        But some of the children being reached out by the Sri Lankan nuns are still on the streets. “They’re exposed to the risks of violence, criminality, theft and abuses like drugs and sex. Some continue to beg. Part of the assistance entails assisting the parents of out children to learn and acquire additional skills and capital for entrepreneurial activities,” Sr. Angela disclosed.

        Sister Angela has been in her pastoral work for the past 23 years as a nun. She arrived in this city along with two other Sri Lankan nuns last July 27, 2003, at the time when their congregation, the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary (SCJM), celebrated its 200-year of service.

        Despite the bad experiences being encountered in their apostolate work, Sr. Angela said nothing could discourage them from earnestly pursuing their mission to help alleviate the plight of the poor.

        Sr. Angela acknowledged that some business establishments in this city, like the Liberty Commercial Center (LCC Mall), were very supportive of their program.

        She said she wanted to eventually market their product in Metro Manila, like the Metro Manila Development Authority that uses an endless supply of brooms to clean the streets of Metro Manila.